Becoming Sisters
by Dawnieorion
Summary: Companion to Two Are Better Than One...Tells the story of Katherine, Elena, and Nadia. All sisters separated at birth who come together when all other families leave them. AH
1. Chapter 1

This is a companion piece to my other story Two Are Better Than One. While writing the backstory of these three sisters, it started to get too long to be within my other story so this is a more detailed backstory of how they found each other. You don't have to read TABTO to understand, this could actually be a standalone story.

Katherine sat in the lawyer's office stunned. She was adopted and her parents had never told her. Then again, when would they have? She was practically raised by nannies while her jet-setting parents went wherever they pleased. Their love was given in the form of money and gifts. She gladly took it all, but always longed for a true family. The letter also told her that while they didn't know where her biological parents were, they could tell her where the doctor who delivered her was.

Katherine was standing outside of Dr. Grayson Gilbert's medical practice in Mystic Falls, two hours from her home in Richmond. She had been so determined the entire two hour drive. She finally took a deep breath and entered the doctor's office. She had waited til the end of the business day so as not to interfere with patients. The nurse behind the counter looked up at her and smiled.

"Elena! Dr. Gilbert will be so glad to see you. He's down the hall in his office." She pointed at a door that obviously led to the rest of the office. "By the way, I love the hair." Katherine looked around the waiting room to see that she was the only one there. The nurse must have her confused with this Elena girl. This just got a lot easier.

"Thank you." Katherine smiled at her and walked straight back through the hallways until she found the door marked _Grayson Gilbert, M.D._ She knocked twice before being called into the office. She poked her head around the door. "Hello, are you busy?"

A dark-haired man in probably his early forties was sitting at a desk with a medical chart in front of him. He looked up when she spoke. "Elena, what are you doing here, honey?"

"I'm sorry to barge in like this. I'm not Elena." She said this name cautiously. "My name is Katherine Pierce. You delivered me a little over sixteen years ago and I was adopted by Maxwell and Maria Pierce in Richmond. My father died about six months ago and my mother died last week. I was at the reading of the will when the lawyer gave me a letter from my parents. They didn't know where my birth parents were but said that you had delivered me. I know it's a long shot but I was hoping you could help me."

Dr. Gilbert set the chart down and just watched her for a few minutes. "May I ask what you're looking for in particular?" He asked slowly and almost nervously.

"I want to find my family. I've always felt alone like a part of me was missing. I know it's a lot to expect of people I've never met, but I was hoping that maybe if I found my birth parents that that hole would possibly be filled a little." Katherine was close to crying now.

"I'm sorry. I don't know where your birth mother would be now. I haven't seen her since that night and had not known her beforehand."

"Oh." Katherine's face fell.

"But I might be able to help you find some family still." Katherine smiled as a single tear fell down her cheek. "Could you give me just a few minutes to make a phone call?"

Katherine nodded. "Sure, I'll just be in the lobby." She gathered her purse and left the office, going back to the waiting room and having a seat.

Several minutes later, Dr. Gilbert came back into the waiting room. "Miss Pierce, if you want to follow me, I think I have some answers for you at my house. My wife and daughter are waiting for us."

Katherine was unsure. Nobody knew where she was. The only reason she wasn't turned over to children's services was because she had paid one of her "nannies" to claim her for a while to delay having to move. Her parents had left her everything and it was more money than she could possibly think to spend in a lifetime. If she could just have a few months, she could petition the court for emancipation. She had her parent's house and the money to financially support herself. But if she wanted to find family, she was going to have to take a risk. She finally nodded her head and followed him out the door.

She followed him through town and a few minutes later pulled into a driveway behind him. She stepped out of her Mercedes Roadster and followed Dr. Gilbert into the house. He turned around to face Katherine. "I should warn you. This is probably going to be an emotional evening."

Before Katherine could question him, her own voice rang from behind the doctor. "Dad, you're home. Mom and I are in the kitchen." Katherine stepped to the side so that Dr. Gilbert was not blocking the other girl from her and was not prepared for what she saw. She was looking directly into her own face. Where her own hair was always curled the girl looking back at her had straight hair. "Dad? Who's this?"

"Why don't we all have a seat at the table?" Grayson offered. Elena and Katherine nodded and followed him to the table joining another woman Katherine assumed to be his wife. The woman glanced from Katherine to Elena to the doctor as the four of them sat down. Elena and Katherine sat across from each other while the adults sat at the heads of the table. "Miranda, Elena, this is Katherine Pierce. Miss Pierce, this is my wife, Miranda, and our daughter, Elena. Katherine came to my office today while trying to search for her biological family. Her adoptive parents have both recently passed away. They directed her to me as I delivered her."

He took a breath before looking to Elena. "The same night I delivered you, Elena, her younger twin sister."

Elena stared at her older sister. "You mean, you gave my twin sister up for adoption? How could you?"

"Elena, honey, we did not put Katherine up for adoption. The truth is a pregnant, teenage runaway showed up at your father's office one night. She was in labor and refused to go to a hospital. Your father delivered you first, Katherine." Miranda smiled at Katherine, making her feel more welcome than she had ever felt with adopted parents. Miranda reached over and took Elena's hand in her own. "A little while later you arrived, Elena."

"The girl was adamant that she could not keep either of you. I called Miranda and asked her for help. The girl asked if we could keep you both. It was easy to say that we had kept a simple, single pregnancy quiet out of fear of losing another baby; but to say that we had kept a twin pregnancy hidden would have been nearly impossible for anyone to believe. So we took one baby and I helped make arrangements for your adoption, Katherine. We had hoped to keep you in touch with each other, but the couple who adopted you insisted that we never contact you again. So after that, we decided that we would wait to tell you when you were eighteen. That would also give us time to find your sister so that when we told you that you were adopted, we could also tell you where your sister was."

Miranda was starting to cry a little. "We had always planned on reuniting you when you were legally able to make your own decisions. We always regretted not being able to keep both of you."

"Hey, what's going on down here?" A boy about Katherine and Elena's age came into the kitchen and looked over at the four of them at the table. "Woah, seriously, what's going on down here?" He looked between Katherine and Elena.

"Is Jeremy adopted too?" Elena blurted out.

"Adopted?!" Jeremy looked from parent to parent. "I'm adopted?"

"No, Jeremy is not adopted. We found out that I was pregnant just days after we brought you home." Miranda explained. "Jeremy, why don't you have a seat and join us?"

Two hours later, Katherine and Elena were still asking questions: questions for each other, questions for Grayson and Miranda. They had ordered pizza and sat talking until it was dark outside. Katherine looked outside and then at the stove clock seeing that it was after eight o'clock.

"I appreciate you telling me everything you know about my birth and for introducing me to my twin sister, but it's a bit of a drive to Richmond. I should probably be heading out." Katherine stood to leave.

Miranda looked at the clock and saw the time. "You're right; it is a long drive and it's late. Why don't you call whoever it is you're staying with that you're staying here for the night? Who _are_ you staying with?" The topic of who Katherine was living with had not yet come up.

"Actually, I'm living by myself. I kind of bribed one of my former nannies to claim me until I can legally emancipate myself." Katherine admitted sheepishly. "But I would love to stay the night if it's no real imposition."

Elena looked over to Katherine. "You should stay."

Katherine nodded, "okay."

If you liked it, please review and let me know. I'll hopefully have another chapter posted by the end of the week.


	2. Bonding with the Gilberts

Please forgive me if there are any editing errors. I was trying to finish the chapter quickly. Its 9:45 pm and I have to get back up at 2:30 to go to work so I'm hurrying through without proofreading. Thank you _Maryann10000, Poet8034, and both Guests _for reviewing. I truly appreciate you taking your time to respond.

Katherine woke up and took in her surroundings. She was in the guest room of the Gilbert house, the house where her younger identical twin sister lived. She looked over at the alarm clock on the nightstand to see that it nine thirty in the morning, on a Thursday. She wondered if Elena had been made to go to school. She climbed out of the bed and looked at herself in the full length mirror that was hanging on the wall beside the closet. She was wearing a pair of Elena's shorts and a spaghetti strap top. Miranda had offered to wash Katherine's clothes for her after she had changed and Katherine noticed that they were sitting folded for her on the dresser.

Katherine and Elena had stayed up until midnight talking. It had been wonderful to have someone to talk to. By the time she went to bed, she felt that she knew her sister better after seven hours than her parents of sixteen years. She crossed the room and took her freshly laundered clothes and got dressed. After making the bed and leaving the borrowed pajamas folded on the bed, she quietly made her way out into the hallway. She crept down to Elena's bedroom and lightly rapped on the door before letting herself into the bedroom, the empty bedroom. She must have gone to school. She turned and headed down the stairs to see if Miranda was home. Surely they would not have left her alone in the house.

As Katherine entered the kitchen, Miranda looked up from the newspaper she was reading at the table. "Good morning, Katherine. Did you sleep well?"

"I did; thank you so much for letting me stay last night. I suppose Elena went to school?"

"She did. She had an important test this morning that she could not miss. After the test, she's leaving and I thought if you wanted we could meet her at the Mystic Grill for lunch?"

"That sounds awesome." Katherine sat down beside Miranda.

"I actually have a present for you." Miranda stood and walked into the living room and pulled a photo album off a shelf. She came back over to the table and set the album in front of Katherine. "This has a lot of Elena when she was younger, but there is one picture in here that Elena has never seen." She flipped the book open to the first page that contained a professional portrait of Elena when she was maybe a month old. Miranda reached under the portrait and handed Katherine a picture of two baby girls sleeping side by side.

"We had both of you for nearly a week. I have more pictures of the two of you together. Before we meet Elena for lunch, I will stop at the bank and get the album from our safety deposit box." Miranda took Katherine's hand. "By the time your parents arrived to take you home, I was already in love with you. It broke my heart to give you up. But I had to be logical. Nothing was legal about either of your adoptions and keeping both of you would have been too suspicious. The last thing I wanted was for someone to look too closely into you girls and we lose both of you and Grayson his medical license. I am so sorry you had to be separated from your sister. I hope that one day you can forgive us for that. There hasn't been a day go by that I haven't thought about what our life would have been like if we had been able to keep you both." By this time both Miranda and Katherine were in tears.

Katherine nodded. "I understand."

Katherine was waiting in the car while Miranda ran into the Mystic Falls Savings and Trust. It only took a few minutes before Katherine spotted her coming back out of the bank. Miranda climbed back into the car and handed the small photo album to Katherine. "It's only about a week's worth of photos, but I hope it might mean something to both you and Elena." Katherine opened it and found several more photos of her and Elena sleeping together. There were shots of Miranda and Grayson holding each of the girls and feeding them. There was one of Grayson lying in bed with both girls asleep on his chest and another of Miranda holding both girls on the couch. Luckily Miranda had labeled the pictures because otherwise she would have never known which were of her and which were of Elena. Katherine's favorite though was Grayson holding Elena and Miranda holding Katherine. The four of them looked like a little family.

Four days later, Katherine was still in Mystic Falls. She and Elena had had fun shopping together so that Katherine had some of her own clothes. She had met Caroline and Bonnie and enjoyed hanging out with them and thought that Elena's boyfriend, Stefan, was so sweet. It to was Sunday and they had been hanging out on the couch all day watching movies with Jeremy. It had been a perfect week. She was blending in with the Gilberts very well and finally felt like she was at home. It was presumptuous of her and she figured she would have to leave soon, but she hadn't been kicked out yet and was enjoying her time in Mystic Falls. She looked up at the clock, it was three thirty. She really needed to head back to Richmond. She had missed an entire week of school and that would not look good to the judge when she filed for emancipation.

As soon as the movie ended, she stood up and stretched. "Well, sis, I had better get back to Richmond. I'm trying to file for emancipation and skipping a week of school is probably not going to look very good."

"Really? That's so sad. Have a safe trip!" Jeremy pouted sarcastically.

"Have you not enjoyed having two of us around all week?" Katherine teased.

"Bye, Kat, have fun. Don't forget to write." Jeremy stood and gave her a hug. "No, really, it's been fun." He then left the living room and headed up the stairs.

"I'm going to run upstairs and grab my stuff." Katherine informed Elena before following Jeremy upstairs.

She was in the guest bedroom stuffing some clothes into her duffel bag when Miranda knocked on the door lightly. "Do you mind if we come in for a moment?" Katherine looked up to see both Miranda and Grayson in the doorway.

"Of course." Katherine opened up a dresser drawer and grabbed some more clothes.

"We were thinking, that if you wanted, you could leave some clothes here so that you could visit on weekends. It's up totally up to you." Grayson told her. "You're always welcome."

"I love that. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be on my own, but for as long as I can, I would love to spend the weekends here." Katherine crossed the room and hugged both of them. After they left the room, she unpacked her clothes and put them back in the dresser and put her duffel bag on a shelf in the closet. She took a look around the room, her new home away from home, before grabbing her purse off the floor from its place beside the bed and headed downstairs to say good-bye to her sister.

"Where's your bag?" Elena asked as Katherine descended down the stairs.

"Your mom and dad told me that I could leave my stuff here so that I could come back on the weekends. I mean, if you want your big sister around on a more permanent basis."

"Of course. So, I'll see you next weekend?"

"Yes, absolutely." The sisters hugged before Katherine reluctantly made her way out to her sports car. After throwing her designer purse into the passenger seat, she sat in the driver's seat for several moments watching the house. The past week had been perfect. She didn't want to leave. Finally, she put the car in gear and headed back to Richmond.

Katherine sat before a judge in his chambers with a social worker from Child's Services. It had been two weeks since she had found her sister. She was disappointed that she hadn't been able to return to Mystic Falls for the weekend, but she had to prepare for her hearing with the judge. She had called and explained to Elena and she had understood though. Now she was presenting her case for emancipation. She had shown that she had the housing and financial means to support herself and despite having missed three days of school the previous week, she still had straight A's in all of her courses. The judge didn't seem as if he was in favor of her emancipation.

He removed his glasses and looked at Katherine. "Miss Pierce, I have to admit, I am not in the habit of emancipating minors. I see that everything does look in place; but, I cannot bring myself to approve your emancipation. I will give you thirty days to make arrangements for your home and belongings before you are placed into foster care unless you find other family to take you in. I do apologize but realistically, you would have less than two years in the foster system until you turn eighteen. I understand this is not the outcome you had hoped for, but I have grandchildren your age. I could not imagine them being on their own. If you do find any other option, any other _family,_ please come back and I will gladly consider placing you under their guardianship."

Katherine let out a breath that she did not realize she had been holding. Finally she nodded, "Thank you, Your Honor." She picked up her financial reports and purse and stood to leave the office after shaking hands with the judge.

As she walked out of the office, she recognized the Gilbert family sitting in the waiting area. "What are you guys doing here?" She smiled as she approached them and engulfed everyone in a hug.

"We came to see how your petition went today. Elena told us you were finding out if your petition was approved or not today." Miranda smiled as she explained.

Katherine frowned. "Unfortunately, I have thirty days to get my house packed up and then I am being placed into foster care, unless I find a family member that is willing to take me in. Luckily, for me, my parents were not the nicest people and managed to alienate their family, so it looks as if I'm headed to foster care." She summed up for them.

Elena looked at her parents. "I'm family."

Jeremy glanced between Elena, Katherine, and then his parents. "No, not two of them."

Miranda and Grayson shared a look before turning to Katherine. "I have to admit, we have an ulterior motive for being here today. Miranda and I discussed this a couple nights ago and decided that if your request was denied that we would offer the guest bedroom to you." Grayson informed her.

"Are you sure?" Katherine asked hopeful. She was not keen on entering foster care.

"We separated the two of you once. We won't do it again." Grayson assured her.

"Remember our conversation at the house after you arrived? I've loved and missed you for sixteen years. Please come home, Katherine." Miranda was close to tears again.

Katherine heard the judge speaking to his legal aid. She turned around to get his attention. "Your Honor? I have family who is willing to claim me."

The judge turned and looked at Katherine and then to Elena and then the Gilberts. "That was fast."

"This is my twin sister. I found her two weeks ago after the reading of my parents' will. That's why I missed the three days of school last week. I didn't know that they were going to be here."

The judge looked thoughtful for a moment. "All right, please come back in." The social worker who had just finished speaking with the aid rolls her eyes and they all followed the judge back into his chambers.

Hopefully, I will have the next chapter up in the next week and will be what happens in the Judge's Chambers. Please let me know what you think and review.


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